The Bus almost made it
It was late on a Friday night in February. Actually, it was early (2AM) on Saturday morning. A youth group from Phoenix was headed our way. Southern Colorado was having an old fashion snow blizzard and the roads were a mess. I had plowed Sonlight Place several times. They called from Durango and said they were on their way. After about an hour and a half, I went out to the county road and waited for them. Finally, headlights were coming up the road. It was the bus. Yahoo, they made it. As we were driving in the camp road, I was out in front with my snow plow to clear the road and give them some lights and direction. “Go fast up the hills” I said to no one, hoping the bus driver would hear me. We made it to the camp property and I thought, we got this. Just then, the bus slowed and finally came to a stop almost sideways on our one lane road. We were at the drive way to the backpack building. The driver tried a few time to get moving again. All he did was get more across the road. Done. Stuck. Only 1,000 feet to go. 2 AM. The kids walked into the camp and the lodge. Mary had fresh cookies and hot chocolate for them. Many kids were in shorts and flip flops as when they left Phoenix it was 80 degrees. We hauled the luggage into the lodge with many trips in the pickup. Finally, all the kids, the adults and their luggage were at Sonlight and laughing.
I went back to help the bus driver. He said, “I can’t leave the bus. It’s in the middle of the road”. There is no traffic, I said. He would not leave. So, I brought him some cookies, hot chocolate and a sleeping bag. He stayed in the bus that night.
The next morning (really a few hours later) Charlie, the county road grader operator, was coming in Sonlight Place to knock the snow banks back. I got a big tow chain out and Charlie used the maintainer to pull out the stuck bus. Charlie got around the bus and then pulled the bus into to camp parking lot. Thanks Charlie! Yes, cookies and coffee for Charlie.
After breakfast, the kids, the adults and bus all went to Wolf Creek Ski area for a fun day of great snow. Just another adventure at Sonlight Christian Camp.